Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Cal Fire official says Sunday was ‘big turning point’ to reduce blaze in Lake county, now 30% contained Firefighters made progress toward containing northern California’s Lucas fire, state officials said on Sunday. Fire officials are still investigating the cause of the fire, which has burned more than 4,120 acres across Lake and Mendocino counties. The fire was 30% contained by Monday morning, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection, or Cal Fire. Continue reading...

Batteries now meet almost half of the grid’s dispatchable power needs during hours of highest demand Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia’s dependence on gas for power during the evening, when the grid is under the most pressure, has fallen by almost nearly 70% over the past year as batteries surged in, replacing the fossil fuel. Gas generation during the busy early evening, between 5pm and 8pm, fell by 67% in the year to August, as large-scale batteries continued to come online and half a million home batteries were installed under the government’s subsidy program, analysis by consultancy EnergyEdge found. Continue reading...

Advocates and experts describe the Trump administration’s climate rollbacks as gifts to polluters at expense of planet The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is ⁠poised to formally repeal carbon pollution standards for coal- and gas-fired power plants, according to reports. The Trump administration’s latest climate rollback is expected to ⁠come as soon as Monday on the sidelines of the G20 energy ministers’ meeting in Houston, ⁠Texas, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. Continue reading...

Some of the everyday struggles animating voters have a climate link lurking in the background When Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed a law erasing the words “climate change” from state statutes in May 2024 – colloquially known as the “don’t say climate change” law – Democrats were outraged. Just six months later, many liberal politicians began to go quiet on the issue themselves. After Donald Trump won the 2024 election, mentions of the climate crisis started to disappear from Democrats’ rhetoric. As the 2026 midterms approach, that retreat is still shaping how some candidates talk about climate on the campaign trail. The trend, known as “climate-hushing”, may reflect the limitations of Joe Biden’s climate policies, said Daniel Aldana Cohen, assistant sociology professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies climate politics and inequality. Green jobs and housing investments fell short of the climate movement’s desires, consumer incentives disproportionately benefited wealthier households, and Democrats struggled to effectively communicate their accomplishments. The president has since rolled back many Biden-era clean energy incentives and regulations. Continue reading...